Federal prosecutors plan to use DNA evidence to try to prove Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., committed immigration fraud, sources told the New York Post, a new turn in the sprawling, years-long criminal investigation into the congresswoman.
People familiar with the probe said investigators have relied on whistleblowers, government records and now DNA to substantiate decade-old allegations that Omar, and possibly relatives such as her father, defrauded immigration authorities.
One source said the DNA is critical to proving the allegation that Omar married her brother when she wed Ahmed Nur Said Elmi in 2009 to help him obtain a green card, which never came through. Omar has repeatedly denied the rumored sibling marriage since 2016, when she first ran for state representative.
It’s unclear whether the DNA was obtained before or after Homeland Security Investigations searched Omar’s Washington, D.C., home on Oct. 12, when agents were seen carrying out boxes marked “Seized Property Evidence.” One source pushed back on early reports that investigators went “dumpster diving” for DNA swabs from Omar, Elmi, who now lives in the U.K., or family members.
Two other sources said the search, combined with the DNA and other evidence, gives prosecutors a solid basis to bring immigration fraud conspiracy charges before a grand jury. The probe was launched by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota.
Because the case is being pursued as a conspiracy, older conduct could still count. “If you argue a conspiracy, you can allege overt acts in furtherance of the conspiracy that are outside the statute of limitations,” said former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani. He added that such a charge would likely fall within a 10-year statute of limitations, while a civil case would have none, and noted Omar’s late father could be an unindicted co-conspirator.
Meanwhile, D.C. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro is investigating Omar’s finances, including House disclosures in which her reported net worth fell by tens of millions of dollars over the past year due to an unexplained accounting “discrepancy.”
“That judge would not have signed that warrant unless there was probable cause,” Pirro told Fox News. “If there was a crime committed, it will be prosecuted.”
Border czar Tom Homan said over the weekend the feds have built “a strong case” that could lead the Trump administration to seek Omar’s denaturalization. Omar’s family emigrated from war-torn Somalia in 1995. Sources previously said the alleged fraud may involve Omar or her father, Nur Omar Mohamed, misrepresenting her birth date so she could become a citizen when he naturalized in 2000.
Stripping a sitting member of Congress of citizenship and deporting them would be unprecedented.
Elmi, who divorced Omar in 2017, reportedly withdrew a marriage-based green card application in 2019 after U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services asked for more evidence about the marriage, according to The Washington Post.
Omar’s attorneys, Amy Jeffress and Joshua Matz, fired off a letter to the Justice Department demanding the immediate return of all seized property, alleging agents ignored a magistrate judge’s “special requests” and broke longstanding policy by conducting the search close to an election. They accused President Trump of targeting Omar “as retribution for her political advocacy.”
A DOJ spokesperson called the letter “riddled with false allegations and inaccuracies,” adding, “Leaking a letter to the press right after sending it is not good faith. It is a publicity play.”
Omar’s husband, Tim Mynett, told Fox News: “My wife came here when she was 12 years old as a child war refugee.”
[READ MORE: Trump White House Account Cheers Report Showing Legal Immigration Visas Cut in Half]
